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**HELP FOR WRITERS! (1. GETTING STARTED (11) ('I can't think of…
**HELP FOR WRITERS!
1. GETTING STARTED (11
)
'I can't think of anything to write' (17)
Spend the morning in the cafe (17)
Keep a notebook for ideas (18)
Read a book on a topic unfamiliar to you (19)
Break your routine. Take a different route to work (20)
Eat out (21)
Watch people in their natural habitat (22)
Read posters, billboards, graffiti (23)
Read the news for undeveloped ideas (24)
Interview the oldest person you know - and the youngest (25)
Spend the day with someone whose job interests you (27)
'I hate writing other people's ideas'
Learn to turn a story into your assignment (28)
Treat assignments as story topics rather than story ideas (29)
Make it your own (30)
Be direct to suggest something better (31)
Brainstorm with other writers (32)
Talk it over with other stakeholders or those outside journalism (33)
Use search and be random (34)
If the assignment points left, head right (34)
Stop grumbling, just once, and follow it (35)
Keep a list of story ideas at hand so you can trade for something better (36)
'I have trouble doing all the research'
Research until you hear a repetition of stories or key information (38)
Work until you get to the unofficial experts (39)
Do you have enough evidence for a powerful conclusion (40)
Report until you see more and more stuff you can leave out (41)
Research until someone says: "Talk to Shirley". And go talk to Shirley. (42)
Get writing before your editor yells that you're about to miss deadline (43)
Work until you have a clear statement about what the story is really about (44)
Research till you have enough to show the reader - not just tell the reader (45)
Hunt and gather till you have three times as much as you think you need (46)
Collect until you have enough to recognise and select the best stuff (47)
2. GETTING YOUR ACT TOGETHER (49
)
'My work habits are disorganised' (55)
Index and date notebooks according to project and chronology (56)
If your project has an obvious beginning, middle, end then order working material under those categories (57)
Clean out the clutter in your writing space (55)
Write down your mission for that day... (58)
...and list the tasks to complete it (59)
Place the tasks in practical order (60)
Cross out tasks as you finish them (60)
'I can never find what I need when I need it' (66)
Work with pixels and paper (68)
Back up your files (69)
Surround yourself with your most important references (68)
Index and cross reference (70)
Make copies of your most important research material (67)
Create a wall map (71)
Set up an organisational plan ASAP (66)
Research again if necessary (72)
Beware the dark side of tech (72)
Inventory materials at key points (73)
'I have too much material to handle' (75)
Write for a while without reference to your notes (75)
Go through your material and mark the best stuff (76)
Copy the best material you have and put the rest aside (77)
Create a random list of the 10 best things in your story... (78)
...now make a list of the five most important (79)
Create files for each of the most important elements (80)
Write down the 10 most important parts on index cards (81)
Play with the cards for meaningful order (82)
Pull out file #1 and card #1 and start writing (83)
Write a mission statement for the story, listing the three things readers will take from it (84)
4. LOOKING FOR LANGUAGE (129
)
'My vocabulary is limited' (135)
Keep in mind your audience (137)
Ask your source for the name of things
Create a lexicon for each of the topics you cover (136)
Notice: go early and stay late (139)
Let the words find you (135)
Keep track of key words in your reading (140)
Explode old words for new reading (141)
Learn the relationship between your reading and vocabulary (142)
Get the name of the dog (143)
Don't just describe the thingy - name it |(144)
'My early drafts are full of cliches' (146)
When tempted by a cliche, give yourself one minute to think of an alternative (149)
Beware of buzzwords
Don't be afraid to take a cliche and tweak it (148)
Write down the cliche. Improvise off it (151)
Recognise when you are using cliches in clusters
Understand the origins of the cliche (152)
Don't worry about the occasional cliche (146)
Search the internet - how under- or over-used is it? (153)
Cautiously avoid ideological sloganeering (155)
Be sensitive to cliches of vision and how you see the world (154)
'My words don't make things clear'(156)
Focus on the impact (161)
Alternate between the important and the interesting (162)
Use shorter words, sentences and paragraphs at the most complex points (160)
Chat with your imaginary friend (163)
Slow down the pace of information (159)
Make the strange feel familiar (164)
Use as few numbers as possible and put them in context (158)
Keep the dull bits short (165)
Translate jargon for the reader (156)
7. MAKING IT BETTER (239
)
'I don't know what to revise and run out of time' (245)
Try zero drafting (247)
Seek early feedback (248)
Differentiate between conceptual revision and production revision (246)
Look for important questions you have not yet answered (248)
Revise by triage (246)
Check for leaps of logic (249)
Revise at every stage (245)
Are your language choices appropriate for your audience? (250)
Place all the elements that belong together (251)
Make every word justify its existence (252)
'My work is too long' (254)
Select the best and let the weak fall away (256)
Tell your obese draft to shape up (257)
Do not cvompress sentences or paragraphs before you consider larger cuts (255)
Discuss the scope of the story early on with an editor (258)
Mark paragraphs that can be cut down if space is tight (254)
Have you chosen the best form or genre for your story (259)
Negotiate a length and stick to it (260)
Cut any elements that do not advance the focus of the story (261)
Practice cutting 10%, even 20%, of any draft you think is "finished" (262)
Begin the stoiry as close as possible to the end of the narrative as possible (263)
'I resent criticism and editing' (265)
Encourage editors to bounce problems back at you (267)
Share control of the story (267)
Establish relationships with anyone who influences your work (268)
Pick your battles (266)
Avoid guerilla warfare (269)
Reward the criticism you need (266)
Argue about purpose, not preference (269)
How do you handle criticism in the rest of your life? (265)
Prepare for tough talk (270)
Be a productive critic of other people's work (271)
6. ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS (205
)
'My middle sags' (220)
Up the ante (221)
Notice middles in your reading (222)
The middle: a cosy motel step halfway through the description (221)
Stop using middles as your dumping ground (223)
Honbour the good middle (220)
Reproportion the middle (224)
Strengthen the core (224)
Save a gold coin for the middle (225)
Celebrate crossing the equator (225)
Tap the power of ceremony (226)
"It never ends well" (228)
Think about the ending from the very start (230)
Let the ending echo the start (231)
Try writing the ending first (230)
Write an epilogue (233)
Collect good endings (229)
Leave readers with info they can use now (234)
Project the reader into the future (235)
Let a character speak the ending (235)
The story is a journey and the ending is the destination (228)
Play off a classic ending (236)
'I'm slow and miss deadline' (211)
Establish an earlier set of artificial deadlines (214)
Don't let yourself off the hook (215)
Revisit an earlier stage of the process (213)
Send up a flare if you're drowning (216)
Make choices earlier than you think (212)
How much time do you need for each part of the process? (211)
Begin revising as early as possible (216)
Pay a visit to those downstream (217)
Know when to hold em and when to fold em (218)
Celebrate making a deadline (219)
3. FINDING FOCUS (87
)
'I don't really know what the story is about' (93)
Try writing an intro that captures the focus (95)
Write a six-word theme statement (96)
Ask yourself repeatedly what the story is about (94)
Ensure all the evidence in your story points to a single conclusion (97)
Limit the scope of the topic (93)
Cut the elements least supportive of your focus (98)
List three things your story is about - what's the most important? (99)
List questions your story will answer for the reader (101)
What feeling do you want to leave your reader with? (100)
Brainstorm ideas for the title or headline (102)
'I struggle with the beginning' (104)
Ask yourself: what is most important here? (106)
Ask yourself: what is most interesting? (107)
Collect examples of good intros for inspiration (104)
What does the reader need to know first? (109)
Plant a clue early to foreshadow meaningful themes and events (110)
Think of a scene or anecdote that captures the story (111)
Choose a main character - when will your readers meet them? (113)
If this were a movie, what would the first scene be? (114)
Find a beginning that appeals to the senses - detail readers can see, hear or smell (116)
Begin the story in the middle (117)
'I have problems selecting my best stuff' (119)
...then assign each a value of 1 - 10... (120)
...until all have been assigned a score (121)
In the margins, indicate what works... (119)
Consider keeping the best of the best - and forget the rest (122)
You don't have to kill weaker elements - they can be saved for something else (122)
Think of your focus like a knife (123)
Ask a trusted test reader to mark your best and worst sections (124)
Watch a DVD that contains deleted scenes - why were they cut? (125)
When reading someone else's work, even a novel, look at what you might cut (125)
Learn from how other writers cut (126)
5. BUILDING A DRAFT (167
)
"I am totally blocked" (173)
Lower your standards at the start, then raise them later (173)
Rehearse the start by speaking to someone (175)
Write as fast as you can nfo 10 minutes without stopping (177)
Tell the critical voice in your head to shut up (178)
Get someone to ask questions about your story (181)
Don't write the story - write a memo to yourself about it (176)
Foregt the beginning - write the end (182)
Imagine the story in your head (174)
Write on a legal pad (180)
'I can't stop procrastinating' (184)
Create a reliable, comfortable place to write (188)
Adhere to a daily schedule (189)
Reward yourself after the first hour (187)
Tell a friend what you plan to write (190)
List three things you want to achieve in that day's writing (186)
Impose a deadline on yourself (185)
It's not procrastination, it's rehearsal (184)
Don't stop that day's writing at the end of a chapter or section (191)
Use your head (192)
Dictate the story into a recorder (193)
'I have trouble working from a plan' (194)
Kewep the structure simple, eg problem-solution (198)
Collect prefabricated structures: sonnet, whodunnit, oral history etc (199)
Build the stroy around conflict and complicatiopns (197)
Create a mindmap / spider diagram (200)
Move the reader from place to place (196)
Write a five-part plan on a sheet of A4 (201)
Research how other writers organise (202)
Time chronology - straight or loopy? (195)
Does the material have a transparent beginning, middle, end (194)
String a sequence of scenes (203)